2156 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



son clover and buckwheat are favored cover-crops. 

 Peach-leaf curl is found to a sufficient extent to necessi- 

 tate spraying for its control, but peach "yellows" is not 

 known to exist and brown-rot causes very little trouble. 

 San Jose scale is found in a few places. The varieties 

 commonly grown are Greensboro, Carman, Mountain 

 Rose, Early Crawford, Champion, Belle of Georgia, 

 Elberta and Late Crawford. The Elberta is more 

 largely grown than any other. 



Cherries are grown in a very limited way, there being 

 no orchard of any size, although both the Early Rich- 

 mond and Montmorency do well. Pears are receiving 

 very little attention at present. 



The grape is planted in a few sections but the season 

 is rather short to insure their proper maturity. The 

 Concord, Worden, Delaware, Brighton, and Niagara 

 are mostly grown. 



Of the cultivated small-fruits, the strawberry and red 

 raspberry are grown more largely than the others. 

 There is an increasing demand for small-fruits through- 

 out the state as a result of the ever-increasing number 

 of tourists and summer residents. This phase of horti- 

 cultural development offers good returns, especially 

 where it is possible to practise irrigation. 



By far the most important small-fruit, however, is 

 the blueberry. The season extends from early July until 

 mid-September. There are no statistics as to the actual 

 quantity of blueberries produced in the state, but it is 

 safe to say that it is several times greater than the 

 quantity of strawberries. The low-bush blueberry is 

 the earliest in ripening its fruit, followed by the medium 

 and high-bush types. Probably two-thirds of the total 

 crop are from the low-bush plants. New Hampshire 

 and Massachusetts blueberries bring the highest prices 

 on the Boston market. This is due to the fact that the 

 berries are largely of the high-quality low -bush type 

 and are almost all hand-picked. The low-bush blue- 

 berries are found mostly on fine, sandy, peaty soils on 

 high lands. In many instances, the sides and rounded 

 tops of hills in the southern and central parts of the 

 state are covered with practically a pure stand of low- 

 bush blueberries; on other hills it occurs in open spaces 

 between clumps of the wild ground juniper and native 

 wild spireas. The high and intermediate bush types are 

 also found on high land but are more common on lower 

 areas and on soils containing more moisture. A very 

 limited start has been made in the cultivation of the 

 high-bush blueberry. The low-bush type produces its 

 finest fruit most abundantly on plants two and three 

 years old, hence it is a common practice among owners 

 of low-bush pastures to burn over a portion of the 

 bushes each spring. Large shipping centers are the 

 towns of South Lyndeboro, Greenfield, Alton and Mil- 

 ton, but almost all towns in the southern and central 

 parts of the state ship at least in small quantities. They 

 are usually marketed in the thirty-two-quart strawberry 

 crates. The Boston dealers make a uniform charge of 2 

 cents a quart for selling, and the freight to Boston from 

 most points in New Hampshire is 15 to 20 cents a crate. 

 As a rule, the average price nets from 12 to 16 cents a 

 quart at the first of the season and 8 to 10 cents a quart 

 at the end of the season. 



Market-gardening has been neglected in the past few 

 years and as a result a large percentage of green stuff is 

 shipped in from Boston, except in the height of- the 

 season. However, about Portsmouth and Dover and 

 in the Merrimac Valley, considerable trucking is 

 carried on. The Skinner system of irrigation is used in 

 these sections and auto-trucks are used to some extent 

 to market their product. Very little is done in growing 

 vegetables under glass to supply the winter demands 

 and most of the greenhouse vegetables are shipped in 

 from Massachusetts. 



Most of the greenhouses are found near the larger 

 towns and cities and are mostly devoted to the growing 

 of flowers. Roses are grown in a large way near Exeter 



and Dover. The growers attribute their success to the 

 type of soil in these sections. One grower at Exeter 

 has 96,000 feet of glass and another near Dover has 

 153,000 feet, all of which is devoted exclusively to the 

 growing of roses for the Boston trade. The varieties 

 grown are White and Pink Killarney, Killarney Bril- 

 liant, Ward, Richmond, and Sunburst. 



Some very good examples of landscape gardening 

 are to be found about Dublin and Peterborough. Most 

 of the estates are owned by summer residents. In many 

 other sections of the state this art is being manifested 

 and considerable money has been expended in beauti- 

 fying the estates. About the numerous summer hotels 

 through the mountains may be seen some good examples 

 of the landscape art. The farm homes are kept up 

 unusually well. Most of the houses are large and the 

 buildings are kept well painted. Many artistic libraries 

 and churches are to be found in the rural districts. 



A few varieties of apples have originated in New 

 Hampshire which have become distributed to some 

 extent throughout eastern United States. Among the 

 best known of these are the Granite Beauty, Milden, 

 Piper, and Red Russet. 



Historically, New Hampshire can lay claim to an early 

 recognition of the possibilities of growing fruit-trees and 

 vines. In 1623, Ambrose Gibbons set the first vine- 

 yard, together with other fruits, near the mouth of the 

 Piscataqua river near Portsmouth. There are many 

 such old horticultural landmarks. 



Many of the early settlers came from the south- 

 western counties of England. To them cider and perry 

 seemed almost as necessary as food, and very soon after 

 then* arrival they began to set orchards of apples and 

 pears. Their particular object was not the fruit itself, 

 but the beverages made from it. The following item 

 is taken from one of the many town histories that have 

 been published in New Hampshire, and although it may 

 be slightly exaggerated, it gives some idea of the apple 

 industry one hundred years ago: 



"About this time 1800 to 1810 the apple orchards 

 in town which had been early set out, produced apples 

 in abundance, which were made into cider. Every man 

 had his orchard, and every tenth man his cider-mill. 

 Every well-to-do farmer put into his cellar yearly from 

 twenty to fifty barrels of cider which was all drunk on 

 the premises. Col. John Bellows had an orchard of 30 

 acres, the largest in town. In 1805 there were 4,800 

 barrels of cider made and every drop drunk in town." 



Public-service agencies for horticulture. 



The New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the 

 Mechanic Arts was created by an act of the Legislature 

 in 1866 and was established at Hanover as a state 

 institution, in connection with Dartmouth College. In 

 1893 the College was moved from Hanover to Durham. 

 This action followed the death of Benjamin Thompson, 

 of Durham, a farmer, who died January 30, 1890, and 

 left his entire estate, with a few minor reservations, to 

 the college. A department of horticulture was estab- 

 lished in 1895, and at the present time there are five 

 members of the horticultural staff, which includes one 

 instructor who devotes his entire time to extension 

 work. 



The Experiment Station is located at Durham in 

 connection with the Agricultural College. It was 

 established in 1887. There are sixteen members of the 

 staff at the present time, representing nine departments. 

 The horticultural department has leased a Baldwin 

 apple orchard near Durham for experimental purposes. 

 There have been issued twenty-five bulletins on horti- 

 cultural subjects. 



The extension work in New Hampshire may be said 

 to have had its real beginning in September, 1911. 

 Among the activities of the extension service, the horti- 

 cultural department has been carrying on some special 

 demonstration work in several orchard =>. 



